The invention relates to the field of computer networks and systems and methods for monitoring, analyzing, and modifying network traffic. There exists a variety of systems, protocols, and software applications for monitoring and analyzing network traffic. These include packet analyzers like Wireshark, traffic load measurement applications like MRTG, network monitoring protocols such as SNMP and netflow, and system logs, reports, and other data records. Each of these things is adapted to monitor a narrow aspect of network performance. Moreover, many of these applications and protocols are tailored to measure network performance at a single location, rather than over multiple network locations. Applications that do monitor network performance at multiple network locations often provide very little information, such as detailed packet traffic data. This requires system administrators to use multiple applications and tools to identify, diagnose, and correct network problems.
Additionally, network performance data can be very large and difficult to efficiently collect, especially for large networks and if packet data (as opposed to just traffic load and network flow data) is included. Moreover, system administrators often need to sift through large quantities of network performance data to identify and diagnose network problems.